# Cosmo Bonsor > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Cosmo_Bonsor > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Cosmo_Bonsor.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmo_Bonsor > Source revision: 1350900729 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **Sir Henry Cosmo Orme Bonsor, 1st Baronet**, [DL](/source/Deputy_Lieutenant) (2 September 1848 – 4 December 1929) was an English [brewer](/source/Brewer) and businessman and a [Conservative](/source/Conservative_Party_(UK)) politician who sat in the [House of Commons](/source/House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom) from 1885 to 1900. ## Biography Bonsor was born in [Polesden Lacey](/source/Polesden_Lacey) on 2 September 1848, the son of Joseph Bonsor.[1][2] He was educated at [Eton](/source/Eton_College) and with his father and brother became a partner in the brewing firm of Combe & Co. He was a [director of the Bank of England](/source/List_of_directors_of_the_Bank_of_England), and a Governor of [Guy's Hospital](/source/Guy's_Hospital).[3] Bonsor married Emily Gertrude Fellowes in 1872. She died in London on 18 July 1882, and he remarried to Mabel Grace Brand on 3 March 1886.[4][5] In 1885 Bonsor was elected [M.P.](/source/Member_of_Parliament_(United_Kingdom)) for [Wimbledon](/source/Wimbledon_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) and held the seat until 1900.[6] Also in 1885, Bonsor purchased the estate of [Kingswood Warren](/source/Kingswood,_Surrey), Surrey from Sir John Cradock Hartopp and lived there until 1906 when he put it on the market because of the rising cost of maintenance.[7] In 1898 Bonsor organised the brewery amalgamation to form [Watney Combe & Reid](/source/Watney_Combe_%26_Reid), of which he remained chairman until 1928. Bonsor was created a [baronet](/source/Baronet) on 26 January 1925.[8][9] He died four years later at the age of 81 in [Nice](/source/Nice). He was buried in St Andrew's churchyard. Bonsor was a public benefactor and was loved locally for his kindness and generosity to all.[7] His son Reginald succeeded to the baronetcy. ## Railway service In 1895 Bonsor was appointed deputy-chairman of the [South Eastern Railway](/source/South_Eastern_Railway_(UK)) (SER), and was elected chairman of that railway following the death of the incumbent, [Sir George Russell, Bart](/source/Sir_George_Russell,_4th_Baronet), on 7 March 1898. At the start of 1899 the SER entered into a working union with its neighbour and hitherto competitor, the [London, Chatham and Dover Railway](/source/London,_Chatham_and_Dover_Railway) (LCDR). Each of the two railways provided four members of the new [South Eastern & Chatham Railway Companies Joint Management Committee](/source/South_Eastern_%26_Chatham_Railway_Companies_Joint_Management_Committee), and Bonsor was elected Chairman of that body, retaining his SER post. He retired from railway service upon the formation (by amalgamation of the SER, LCDR and other railways) of the [Southern Railway](/source/Southern_Railway_(UK)) at the start of 1923.[10] In 1899 he formed a private syndicate to extend the [Tattenham Corner Line](/source/Tattenham_Corner_Line) from [Kingswood railway station](/source/Kingswood_railway_station) to [Tattenham Corner railway station](/source/Tattenham_Corner_railway_station) to take the racegoing traffic to [Epsom Downs Racecourse](/source/Epsom_Downs_Racecourse).[citation needed] A train named in his honour formerly ran as part of the [Southern](/source/Southern_(train_operating_company)) services to [London Bridge](/source/London_Bridge). The train stock was of [Class 456](/source/British_Rail_Class_456).[11] ## References 1. ["Our New President"](https://books.google.com/books?id=RI81AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA261&ci=54%2C591%2C433%2C181). *Guy's Hospital Gazette*. **XXIV** (575). 1910-07-09. Retrieved 2023-10-04. – via Google Books. 1. Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles (ed.) (1910). [*Armorial Families: A Directory of Gentlemen of Coat-Armour*](https://books.google.com/books?id=M2VHAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA159&ci=29%2C1169%2C393%2C187). London: T. C. & E. C. Jack. p. 159. Retrieved 2023-10-04. – via Google Books. 1. [Debretts Guide to the House of Commons 1886](https://archive.org/stream/debrettshouseo1886londuoft) 1. ["Deaths"](https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000408/18820727/133/0020). *Dorset County Chronicle*. 1882-07-27. p. 20. Retrieved 2023-10-04. – via British Newspaper Archive. 1. ["Marriage of Mr. Cosmo Bonsor M.P. and Miss Brand"](https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000334/18860306/023/0005). *Surrey Mirror*. 1886-03-06. p. 5. Retrieved 2023-10-04. – via British Newspaper Archive. 1. ["Article on BBC history"](https://web.archive.org/web/20121111112428/http://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/about/history/previousowners.shtml). Archived from [the original](http://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/about/history/previousowners.shtml) on 11 November 2012. Retrieved 5 March 2008. 1. No. 33015. 27 January 1925. p. 590. 1. [456024 "Sir Cosmo Bonsor"](http://www.the-siding.co.uk/class456/pages/456024.htm) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Cosmo Bonsor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmo_Bonsor) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmo_Bonsor?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.